Xiaomi 11T Pro First Impressions: Armed to the Teeth

Xiaomi's 11T Pro is the latest smartphone in India from the Chinese company to lose the ‘Mi' branding. Launched in India about four months after its global announcement, the 11T Pro is a premium smartphone that's packed with powerful hardware, with a strong focus on performance and fast 120W charging. Xiaomi is also marketing it as a camera-centric device, with a 108-megapixel primary camera and features such as 8K video recording. Let's take a closer look at this premium smartphone.

The Xiaomi 11T Pro is available in three variants and three finishes. The base variant has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 39,999 in India. The second variant has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and is priced at Rs. 41,999. The top-end variant has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 43,999. The phone is available in Celestial Magic, Moonlight White, and Meteorite Black colours. I have with me a unit with 12GB of RAM, in Celestial Magic.

Design-wise, the Xiaomi 11T Pro looks very similar to the Mi 11X Pro (Review) which launched in 2021. It has a matte glass back panel and a flat display with Corning Gorilla Victus for scratch protection. The phone does feel a bit heavy at 204g. The fingerprint reader sits on the side, and there are stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. There's a 6.67-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. The display offers Dolby Vision playback support and a 120Hz maximum refresh rate, along with a 480Hz touch sampling rate, which should be good for gaming.

The Xiaomi 11T Pro has a 6.67-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate

Moving to hardware, there are plenty of similarities with the Mi 11X Pro. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There's Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and an infrared emitter, but no headphone jack. Xiaomi has included a Type-C to 3.5mm adapter in the box, which is at least thoughtful. The phone has a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a big 120W charger in the box. The Xiaomi 11T Pro runs MIUI 12.5.2 based on Android 11, and my unit came with the November 2021 security update, which is a bit dated.

As for the cameras, there's plenty to talk about. The Xiaomi 11T Pro's setup is similar to what's available on the Mi 11X Pro. There's a 108-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. Selfie duties are handled by a 16-megapixel front camera.

The Xiaomi 11T Pro has three rear cameras, which include a 108-megapixel primary camera

The Xiaomi 11T Pro has a lot in common with the previously launched Mi 11X Pro. The highlight feature is its 120W charging capability, and Xiaomi claims the 5,000mAh battery can be charged fully in just 17 minutes. More importantly, the 11T Pro is positioned as an all-rounder, which is something very few manufacturers have managed to pull off at this price point. The Keeping in mind its Rs. 39,999 starting price, the Xiaomi 11T Pro will compete with smartphones such as the Realme GT (Review), iQoo 7 Legend (Review), Xiaomi's own Mi 11X Pro (Review), and the recently launched Vivo V23 Pro (First Impressions) as well. While its specs look promising, a lot depends on the 11T Pro's camera performance, so stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for my detailed review, which will be out soon.